Monday, October 31, 2011

I'm a believer in ghosts, to some extent. I believe that as long as we hold someone in our hearts, their spirit and memories come back to haunt us in ways we don't expect. This morning as I was finishing up the Demogram, I did what I always do and searched for a previous email to our printer that had the correct description of the steps necessary to print out a 6 page newsletter. It's smaller than normal this month.

The only email that came up in my search was from October, 2007. It was an email from Scott to Trade Printery about that month's Demogram. That was the last time we had a 6 page newsletter, and it was the last Demogram he edited as Chair of the 46th.

Sunday, October 02, 2011

THIS DOCUMENT WAS ACCEPTED BY THE NYC GENERAL ASSEMBLY
ON SEPTEMBER 29, 2011

As we gather together in solidarity to express a feeling of mass injustice, we must not lose sight of what brought us together. We write so that all people who feel wronged by the corporate forces of the world can know that we are their allies. As one people, united, we acknowledge the reality: that the future of the human race requires the cooperation of its members; that our system must protect our rights, and upon corruption of that system, it is up to the individuals to protect their own rights, and those of their neighbors; that a democratic government derives its just power from the people, but corporations do not seek consent to extract wealth from the people and the Earth; and that no true democracy is attainable when the process is determined by economic power. We come to you at a time when corporations, which place profit over people, self-interest over justice, and oppression over equality, run our governments. We have peaceably assembled here, as is our right, to let these facts be known:

§ They have taken our houses through an illegal foreclosure process, despite not having the original mortgage.

§ They have taken bailouts from taxpayers with impunity, and continue to give Executives exorbitant bonuses.

§ They have perpetuated inequality and discrimination in the workplace based on age,
the color of one’s skin, sex, gender identity and sexual orientation.

§ They have poisoned the food supply through negligence, and undermined the farming system through monopolization.

§ They have profited off of the torture, confinement, and cruel treatment of countless animals,
and actively hide these practices.

§ They have continuously sought to strip employees of the right to negotiate for better pay and safer working conditions.

§ They have held students hostage with tens of thousands of dollars of debt on education, which is itself a human right.

§ They have consistently outsourced labor and used that outsourcing as leverage to cut workers’ healthcare and pay.

§ They have influenced the courts to achieve the same rights as people, with none of the culpability or responsibility.

§ They have spent millions of dollars on legal teams that look for ways to get them out of contracts
in regards to health insurance.

§ They have sold our privacy as a commodity.

§ They have used the military and police force to prevent freedom of the press.

§ They have deliberately declined to recall faulty products endangering lives in pursuit of profit.

§ They determine economic policy, despite the catastrophic failures their policies have produced and continue to produce.

§ They have donated large sums of money to politicians, who are responsible for regulating them.

§ They continue to block alternate forms of energy to keep us dependent on oil.

§ They continue to block generic forms of medicine that could save people’s lives or provide relief
in order to protect investments that have already turned a substantial profit.

§ They have purposely covered up oil spills, accidents, faulty bookkeeping, and inactive ingredients in pursuit of profit.

§ They purposefully keep people misinformed and fearful through their control of the media.

§ They have accepted private contracts to murder prisoners even when presented with serious doubts about their guilt.

§ They have perpetuated colonialism at home and abroad.

§ They have participated in the torture and murder of innocent civilians overseas.

§ They continue to create weapons of mass destruction in order to receive government contracts.

To the people of the world,

We, the New York City General Assembly occupying Wall Street in Liberty Square, urge you to assert your power.

Exercise your right to peaceably assemble; occupy public space; create a process to address the problems we face, and generate solutions accessible to everyone.

To all communities that take action and form groups in the spirit of direct democracy, we offer support, documentation, and all of the resources at our disposal.

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About Me

Chad Lupkes is a progressive political activist in Seattle, Washington. After fighting cancer in 2003 and realizing that 47+ Million people in the United States didn't have access to health care he determined that that will change.